1. Field
This application relates to acrobatic training devices, specifically those devices used to teach or learn back handspring skills.
2. Prior Art
Back handspring is an acrobatic progression in which athletes, starting from standing position, leap backwards into the air, execute a full back-to-front revolution and land on both hands in a handstand position from which they spring back up returning to standing position. Back handspring is one of several essential skills basic to tumbling, gymnastics, acro-dancing, cheerleading, and similar activities.
Training athletes to perform back handsprings presents coaches with several interrelated challenges, including:
(a) Teaching essential body mechanics, proper positioning, and correct form to perform this progression, and
(b) Promoting development of students' kinesthetic sense, and
(c) Assisting students to alleviate and overcome reflexive, instinctive fear of leaping backward blindly into space, and
(d) Providing physical support to students as they practice this progression.
All above may be addressed at basic level by an array of techniques collectively and commonly known as spotting whereby a coach verbally directs and manually guides students' movements throughout each element of a routine. Spotters also catch or otherwise physically intervene as necessary to prevent athletes from injuring themselves.
Spotting a person engaged in rapid aerial motion, especially on a frequent, repetitive basis is arduous labor that places coaches in considerable jeopardy of sustaining chronic, occasionally severe, orthopedic damage.
Manual spotting supplemented by specialized equipment potentially resolves these issues to the extent available equipment satisfies unique needs of coaches as well as athletes in this endeavor.
All such devices heretofore known suffer from one or more disadvantages:
(a) Belts in conjunction with various aerial suspension systems as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,107,377 to Howland (1938) support body weight and, when properly used, may protect athletes from catastrophic crash landings. Usage is restricted to specific fixed areas by fact of attachment to stationary mounted frames, ceiling beams, tracks or apparatus such as trampoline frames. In addition to which, belts attach around the waist thereby depriving users of full back support.
(b) Multi-faceted regular polygonal spheres as proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,790 by Gordon (1971) are embodied most frequently as octagons. When properly sized to accommodate individual users, these forms reduce weight load otherwise borne by spotters and provide users with a degree of support throughout the stretched flight stage. Regular polygonal spheres do not enable users to adequately emulate required positions thus causing students to bend their knees incorrectly, overarch, or both. All spheres, whether polygonal or rounded, are prone to uncontrolled rotation and instability when acted upon by users.
(c) Devices commonly designated as “Handspring Machines” or “Pac-Man Handspring Trainers” are available from a number of suppliers. These are modified spheres being generally round, but representing only 270° of a full circle. This design requires users to lunge backwards from a seated position rather than from the preferred upright standing position. They do not provide inadequate back support throughout the stretched flight stage and are prone to uncontrolled rotation. When using this type of apparatus, users frequently tend to break form by bending their knees incorrectly.
(d) Various combinations of incline and flat standard landing mats, also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,790 by Gordon (1971), none of which are expressly intended solely for this purpose and are, therefore, inadequate to fulfill unique needs of coaches and their students,
(e) A padded bar mounted horizontally at approximately waist height between uprights has been recently observed and offered in the market. This solution does not provide sufficient support full range of motion.
Because of these and other disadvantages of known prior art, there exists a need for a portable acrobatic training apparatus to adequately support and properly position athletes while acquiring skills necessary to perform back handsprings. Such apparatus should remain stationary until deliberately set in motion by user action, provide smooth transport within a limited range of transitional rotation, and be capable of returning automatically to start position.